Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #42
War of the Marvels, Chapter One: First Engagement
The New Avengers — Ronin (Clint Barton), Luke Cage, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wolverine (Logan), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), and Captain America (James Barnes) — have used Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM)’s Storyteller MODOC’s to reconstitute their teammate Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers). This is just as her impostor (Karla Sofen, aka Moonstone) arrives too late to stop them.[1] Disorientated by the process, Carol last remembers being in Hong Kong. That’s when she scopes Karla and attacks her.
The two crash through Los Angeles’ famous Chinese theater before Karla is tossed into the La Brea Tar Pits. The two women continue brawling over who has the right to call themselves Ms. Marvel. Karla refuses to surrender her new found identity because it has given her everything she has ever wanted. Carol scoffs at this idea, since in her mind Karla has always been the criminal known as Moonstone.
They then crash in the middle of an opening for a movie at the Fox Theater in Westwood. This gets the media’s attention and traffic helicopters begin following the brawl as it spills onto the freeway. It is here that they crash into a car carrier, knocking one of the vehicles off and sending it flying toward a family in a mini-van. Seeing the danger, Danvers breaks from the fight to save them, leaving her open to a series of devastating blows from Karla.
Sofen then grabs Carol by the neck and tries choking her to death, but Danvers wakes up and fights back. This sends them flying into the air and through the bottom of a passing commercial airliner. This disorientates Carol long enough for Karla to toss her into the jet’s turbine causing it to explode.
Luckily for the passengers on board, the plane is caught by the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) who was sent by Norman Osborn to recover Karla. Bob has been given orders to stop Karla or kill her if she doesn’t comply.
As the two leave the scene, the news is watched by a woman who is the spitting image of Carol Danvers. This is a reporter named Catherine Donovan and seeing Ms. Marvel on TV suddenly makes her realize that she is the real Carol Danvers and wonders what is going on.
Recurring Characters
Ms. Marvel (Danvers & Sofen), Storytellers, AIM, Sentry, New Avengers (Ronin, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, Captain America), Catherine Donovan
Continuity Notes
This is a tale of two Marvels in the Merry Marvel Fashion (eat your heart out Stan). The details:
Prior to this issue, Carol Danvers was believed to have died when her powers overloaded in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #37. In reality, her body was fragmented into multiple energy forms as well as a human identity (as we’ll see later). She was mostly reconstituted last issue.
Just prior to Carol’s supposed demise, Karla Sofen — formerly the Thunderbolt’s Moonstone — was recruited onto Norman Osborn’s team of Avengers. This group was mostly made up of criminals who would pose as previously established heroes. Karla took on the identity of Ms. Marvel. See Dark Avengers #1.
